Remus Lupin
Remus John Lupin (March 10, 1960 - May 2, 1998), or Moony, was a wizard infected with lycanthropy and a member of the First and Second Orders of the Phoenix. During his school years, he was one of the Marauders; he was friends with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Together they created the Marauder's Map. Remus lost all of his closest friends in various ways by the end of the First Wizarding War, though he and Sirius later reclaimed their friendship. Remus taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts during the 1993-1994 school year, but resigned after Severus Snape revealed to the public that Remus was a werewolf. He fought against the Death Eaters once more in the Second Wizarding War, during which he married fellow Order member Nymphadora Tonks and had a son, Teddy Lupin. Remus was killed by Death Eater Antonin Dolohov during the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998.It is likely that Remus was taught potions by Horace Slughorn while at school with James Potter,Lily Evans,Peter Pettigrew,Severus Snape, and Sirius Black. Biography Early Life Remus was born on March 10, 1960 to Mr. and Mrs. Lupin. As a young boy Remus was bitten by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback after his father insulted Greyback, thus becoming afflicted with the blood infection himself. His parents did everything that they could in order to try to find a cure for him, but all of their attempts to do so failed. Although he and his parents were unsure of the safety of allowing him to attend school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore did not see why he could not attend and encouraged him to become a student. Hogwarts Years Remus attended Hogwarts from 1971 to 1978 and was sorted into Gryffindor house. To secure his safety as well as that of his peers, a shanty was built outside of Hogsmeade. This shanty had no natural entrances. There was only a secret passage leading to it from under the Whomping Willow, on Hogwarts' grounds. Remus was brought to the structure once a month for his transformations in order to prevent him from attacking other students. However this isolation caused him to attack himself out of frustration. The villagers of Hogsmeade mistook his screams for that of violent ghosts. Thus the building was dubbed the Shrieking Shack and attained the reputation for being the most haunted building in Britain. Dumbledore encouraged this rumour to keep people from investigating the noises. was the full moon, because it meant his transformation into a werewolf.]] Remus became good friends with fellow Gryffindors James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. He kept his status a werewolf a secret from all of the students at Hogwarts, including James, Sirius, and Peter, and made up stories to explain his monthly disappearances, such as that his mother was ill and he needed to go home to visit her. James, Sirius, and Peter worked out the truth during their second year, and due to their acceptance of who Remus was and their strong friendship with him they decided to learn how to become Animagi in order to keep Remus company during his transformations as a werewolf is only a danger to humans. By their fifth year, James was able to become a stag, Sirius was able to become a dog, and Peter was able to become a rat. Once a month during the full moon James, Sirius, and Peter would sneak out of the castle under James's Invisibility Cloak, transform, get into the Whomping Willow, walk down the tunnel, and meet up with Remus in the Shrieking Shack. The four of them soon left the Whomping Willow and would roam among the school grounds and Hogsmeade by night. They called themselves the Marauders and Remus’s friends nicknamed him "Moony" because of his transformations during every full moon.Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Remus was a good student and a prankster, and he and Peter would sometimes join James and Sirius in detention for mischief-making, though they did not get into as much trouble as their other friends. No other Hogwarts student ever found out as much about the Hogwarts ground and Hogsmeade as they did, and James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter used their knowledge of it to write the Marauder's Map and signed it with their nicknames. It was eventually confiscated by Argus Filch. However, Remus' frequent disappearances riled up an unhealthy curiosity in Severus Snape, a Slytherin student in the same year as Remus, who shared an enmity with James and Sirius, and hated Remus and Peter by association. Severus followed James, Sirius, Remus and Peter around in order to see what they were up to and in an effort to get all of them expelled. In their sixth year, Sirius played a malicious prank against Snape by telling him about the Whomping Willow passageway, hoping that he would be terrified by what he found at the other end. James stopped Snape and saved his life, but Snape still uncovered Remus’s secret. Dumbledore subsequently swore Snape to secrecy, but Snape teased Remus cruelly from that point on. Remus was also a prefect while he was at Hogwarts, although he had trouble exercising discipline over his friends. Sirius once said that Remus did not participate in the bullying of Snape, but Remus admitted that he regretted that he had never stepped in to stop it.Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix First Wizarding War Shortly after graduating from Hogwarts, Remus joined the Order of the Phoenix along with James, Sirius, Peter and Lily Evans, standing up against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Remus failed to find employment following his education because of his affliction as a werewolf. However, James Potter used his wealth to financially support him.JK Rowling comments at Carnegie Hall By the height of the war, Remus’s friend Sirius Black had come to distrust him, suspecting that he might be a spy for the other side. Thus, when a prophecy was made about a child who would have the power to defeat the Dark Lord and Dumbledore identified infant Harry Potter as a possible target, Remus was not included in the plan to keep the Potters safe, though he was aware that they used the Fidelius Charm. James and Lily Potter wanted to use Sirius as their Secret-Keeper, but Sirius thought that would be too obvious, and thus suggested Peter Pettigrew instead. Not even Dumbledore or Remus knew of the switch. . Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor s.]] Few in the magical world tolerated the company, let alone the employment, of a werewolf, and almost all are prejudiced against them; thus Remus was often left without a job and with very little money. Even Ron Weasley, who had previously considered Remus an excellent professor, screamed "Get away from me, werewolf!" upon first discovering Remus’s condition; however, this is more likely because he belived Remus was conspiring with Sirius to murder Harry than prejudice against werewolves. At one time, the Ministry of Magic (under the influence of Dolores Umbridge) even passed anti-werewolf legislation which made it practically impossible and almost illegal for a werewolf to have a job.Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix In 1993, Remus was offered the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, replacing the permanently amnesiac Gilderoy Lockhart. While the students were kept in the dark about his affliction, the staff were made aware that he was a werewolf. Remus taught the class a comprehensive curriculum of identifying and sidestepping dark creatures such as Hinkypunks and Red Caps. He also taught the class about Boggarts. It was during that class that Harry realized his "greatest fear was fear itself" when his Boggart took on the form of a Dementor. After this, Remus gave Harry private lessons in producing a Patronus as a means to control Dementors. Incidentally, being a werewolf, Remus's boggart would take on the form of the full moon. Students who saw this boggart form mistook it for a crystal ball, except for Hermione Granger, who deduced that Remus was a werewolf but kept the discovery to herself. During his time as a professor, Severus Snape, who had switched sides at the end of the war and became Potions professor, provided Remus with Wolfsbane Potion, allowing him to retain his human mind during transformations. Slytherin students, encouraged by Draco Malfoy, sneered at Remus' shabby clothes and poor appearance, although he seemed to ignore their comments. Regardless, his other students held him in extremely high regard and loved the hands-on style of his classes. He was considered by Harry and his friends to have been their only decent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. For his third years' end of year tests in June, he prepared an unusual exam – an obstacle course out in the grounds in which the students had to (1) wade across a paddling pool containing a grindylow, (2) cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, (3) cross a marsh while being fed misleading directions by a hinkypunk, and (4) enter a trunk to battle a newly procured boggart. Reunion .]] The summer before Remus began his tenure as the Defence professor, Sirius Black escaped Azkaban. Remus, like the rest of the wizarding world, had believed that Sirius had betrayed the Potters to Voldemort and murdered Peter Pettigrew. By the end of the school year, however, Remus knew the truth of what had happened and that Pettigrew was still alive, hiding in his Animagus form – Scabbers, the pet rat of Ron Weasley. Remus was reunited with his old friend Sirius and the two resolved to kill Pettigrew for his part in the deaths of James and Lily and in framing Sirius. They were stopped by Harry Potter, who believed it would be better to hand Pettigrew over to the Ministry of Magic to prove Sirius’s innocence. However, that night happened to be a full moon, and Remus transformed into his werewolf form. Sirius was forced to turn into his dog Animagus form to protect Harry, Hermione and Ron from Remus, and Pettigrew escaped during the chaos. After the danger had passed, Remus resigned from his position when parents learned that he was a werewolf, his resignation was much to the regret of the Hogwarts students and staff who had all grown very fond of him. Second Wizarding War .]] Break-out of War When Lord Voldemort returned, Remus joined the second Order of the Phoenix. He participated in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in 1996, and defeated a number of Death Eaters including their leader, Lucius Malfoy. He was one of only two combatants to see the end of the battle unscathed, the other being Albus Dumbledore, proving Remus's exceptional skill at dueling and knowledge of magic. During this battle, Remus was devastated by the death of his friend Sirius Black, who was pushed through the veil in the Death Chamber by a curse cast by Bellatrix Lestrange. Remus barely managed to prevent Harry from diving in after Sirius, who was already lost. Later that year, Remus began working as a spy for the Order, living among fellow werewolves and trying to convince them to join Dumbledore's side. Battles of the Astronomy Tower and over Little Whinging The following year, Remus would fight bravely again at the Battle of the Astronomy Tower where he narrowly avoided death by a curse from Thorfinn Rowle. Remus despaired at the death of Albus Dumbledore, who had been killed (on his own orders it would eventually be revealed) by Snape. However, the aftermath of the battle would lead to him to accept the love of Nymphadora Tonks, who pointed out that Fleur Delacour still loved Bill Weasley in spite of his injuries at the hands of Fenrir Greyback. The pair attended their former headmaster's funeral togther''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and soon married. They were forced to do so quietly, given the anti-werewolf legislation passed by the Ministry of Magic.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' with Molly and Arthur Weasley before the attack on the Burrow.]] In July of 1997, Remus participated in the Order's operation to remove Harry Potter from his relatives' home before Voldemort could get to him. Remus acted as the protector of George Weasley, who took Polyjuice Potion to become one of the "seven Potters". The party was ambushed by at least thirty Death Eaters, and George was struck by Snape's Sectumsempra spell while he and Remus flew. Remus was unable to pay Snape back in time, it being all he could do to keep George on the broom; though he eventually got the injured George back to the Burrow to be cleaned up, though he permanently lost an ear. Later in the book, it was revealed that Snape sent the spell in order to cut off the hand of a Death Eater aiming at Remus' back, presumably about to kill him. Remus was very anxious about the late arrival of his wife; Tonks had been aggressively pursued by her murderous aunt Bellatrix Lestrange. Remus and Tonks were both able to attend the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour shortly afterwards, and defended the Burrow when it came under attack as Voldemort took over the Ministry. Height of the War in 1997.]] Remus suffered great mental anguish as the war escalated when he discovered that his wife was pregnant. Remus tore out a clump of his own hair out in anxiety over the possibility that his child would be born with lycanthropy. He offered to help Harry, Ron and Hermione with their search for Voldemort’s Horcruxes, but Harry ran him off, calling him a coward for even considering leaving his wife alone while pregnant. Remus left them in a state of great agitation. Harry and his friends next heard of Remus on Potterwatch, under the code name Romulus. Remus came to his senses and reunited with Tonks in time to see his son born. They named him Teddy, after Tonks’ father, who had been killed by Snatchers after refusing to turn himself in to the Muggle-Born Registration Commission. Appearing to forgive and forget their earlier disagreement in Grimmauld Place, Remus asked Harry to be Teddy's godfather. He was ecstatic over the birth of his son, but the family's happiness was not to last long. Battle of Hogwarts and Death Remus was one of the many Order members who answered Neville Longbottom's call to arms on May 2, 1998, when Harry, Hermione and Ron returned to Hogwarts and Lord Voldemort gathered his army to attack the school. He organised and led groups to fight Death Eaters on the school grounds along with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley. His wife initially agreed not to participate in the Battle of Hogwarts, instead staying with their infant son, but was unable to bear leaving her husband to face such danger without her. She left Teddy with her mother and raced to Hogwarts, where she was informed that Remus was last seen fiercely and courageously dueling Death Eater Antonin Dolohov. Dolohov killed Remus, and Tonks was murdered by her aunt Bellatrix Lestrange around the same time.Bloomsbury Webchat with J.K. Rowling, 30 July 2007 During the brief pause in the battle, Remus and Tonks' bodies were laid out beside each other in the Great Hall. The nature of Remus's death was not revealed, but his body was peaceful-looking, implying that he was struck with a Killing Curse or Dolohov's own curse; both are known to leave no visible marks on the outer body. When Harry proceeded to the Death Eater camp to be struck down by Voldemort, he first activated the Resurrection Stone, bringing back the souls of his parents, Sirius, and Remus, the latter of which expressed the hope that Harry would care for his son, lamenting that he would never know him. Appearance in 1993.]] Remus is described as having light brown hair that is prematurely greying, and a pale face with premature lines. These are due to the great deal of stress his body underwent with each full moon. Throughout the series he wears shabby, patched clothing. In the films he sports a mustache, although this was never mentioned in the books. The movie also depicts him with scars cutting across his face which is also not stated in the books. However, given Remus' comments on werewolf inflicted injuries being cursed wounds that are unlikely to fully heal after Fenrir Grayback's attack on Bill Weasley, it is possible he bears scars from his self-inflicted injuries during his transformations Personality Remus was very intelligent, calm, tolerant, gentle, and good-natured. Despite having suffered a great deal of prejudice in his life due to his lycanthropy, he managed to retain an ability to see the good in almost everybody and was extremely forgiving. He also had an excellent sense of humour and, when he was a student at school, was one of the Marauders. He could be described as the mature one in the group, however, because unlike his friends he never partook in bullying and even became a Prefect in his fifth year. Considering that his Boggart is the full moon, Remus is afraid of turning into a werewolf. He might be afraid of the transformation itself, or the fact that he could harm, infect, or kill his friends and family while transformed, and know that he did it himself. Magical Abilities and Skills Remus was a very talented and powerful wizard: in 1993.]] Defence Against the Dark Arts Master: In 1993, Remus took the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and was considered to be the best in this position by many of his students. He also taught Harry Potter the highly advanced Patronus Charm , which Remus himself must have mastered at a relatively young age, at least when he joined the first Order of the Phoenix. It has been inferred that his particular specialty in Defence is, ironically enough, against Dark Creatures. However, this is based on what he taught the third year students and is not necessarily true as we do not know what his curriculum was for the other years during his tenure. Nonverbal and wandless magic expert: While on the Hogwarts Express in 1993, Remus conjured fire, (possibly Bluebell Flames) without using a wand and nonverbally. He could also open locks and chests and relight candles with the wave of his hand, as seen in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. When Remus and Harry had a heated argument in 1997, Remus struck him with a silent spell so quickly that Harry barely had time to reach for his own wand. Both wandless and nonverbal magic are very difficult, indicating Remus’s magical power and skill. Master Duelist: Remus was a highly talented duelist. During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, he was the only fighter besides Albus Dumbledore who was not wounded, killed, or incapacitated. He also came out of the Battle of the Astronomy Tower and the Battle over Little Whinging unscathed, even though he had to support an injured George Weasley while fighting and flying during the latter conflict. Remus was defeated in a duel during the Battle of Hogwarts with Dolohov, a highly skilled and dangerous Death Eater who had previously defeated very talented wizards such as Alastor Moody and the Prewett brothers. Charms expert: Remus appears to have been very talented with Charms from a young age, since he, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew managed to create the magically complex Marauders' Map as teenagers. Relationships Family The extent of Remus Lupin's relationship with his family is unknown. Mr Lupin and Mrs Lupin are known to have concerned over his being a werewolf. Remus's parents believed that this condition meant that their son would be unable to attend Hogwarts. However, this was proven untrue. Nymphadora Tonks with husband, Remus Lupin.]] Remus and Nymphadora Tonks came to know each other as members of the Order of the Phoenix, and at some point, Tonks fell in love with him. He initially rejected the idea of a relationship, claiming he was too old, too poor and too dangerous for her, despite reciprocating her feelings. After several attempts to convince him otherwise, Tonks became depressed – as a result, her metamorphic abilities suffered and her Patronus changed. Tonks declared her feelings publicly after Bill Weasley was scarred by werewolf Fenrir Greyback and Fleur Delacour expressed her love for him regardless. Remus initially protested that their cases were not the same, as Bill would not transform into a werewolf, but eventually they began a relationship. Remus married Tonks in the summer of 1997, and they had a child, Teddy Lupin, named after Tonks' late father in April of 1998, naming Harry Potter his godfather. However, Lupin and Tonks both died in the Battle of Hogwarts in May 1998, leaving their son behind in the care of his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks – an incident eerily similar to Neville Longbottom, who was brought up by his grandmother as his parents were mad. Teddy would also spend a great deal of time with the Potter and Weasley families growing up. His hair is described as tufty and rested on the color turquoise, a bright florescent just like his mother. The Marauders .]] As a Hogwarts student, Remus became good friends with fellow Gryffindors James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. In their second year, Remus' friends figured out that he was a werewolf; instead of shunning him, as many in the wizarding world would have, they learned how to become Animagi by their fifth years to accompany Remus on his monthly transformations, preventing him from hurting himself. Because he was so grateful to have his friends, Remus cut them a lot of slack26 June 2003 Interview with J.K. Rowling at Royal Albert Hall, for instance, despite being dismayed by their bullying of Severus Snape, he did not attempt to stop them. Even though he was his house's Prefect, Remus had difficulty trying to curb his friends' mischievous behaviour. However, Remus was not without a mischief-making streak himself, contributing to the invention of the Marauders' Map. Once they were all members of the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius came to distrust Remus, fearing he might be a spy; the reasons for this are unknown. Sirius' distrust ensured that Remus was unaware when James and Lily changed their Secret-Keeper from Sirius to Peter, and thus believed that Sirius had betrayed them when they were murdered by Lord Voldemort. The two reclaimed their friendship after Sirius escaped from Azkaban in 1993 and Remus learned the truth. They planned to kill their traitorous former friend Peter, but were stopped by Harry Potter. Remus and Sirius both became close to their late friend's son, and Remus was devastated when Sirius was killed in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Severus Snape protecting Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley from Remus in his werewolf form.]] Severus Snape, a Slytherin student in Remus's year, shared a strong enmity with Remus's close friends James Potter and Sirius Black, who outright bullied Snape on occasion. Although not friendly with Snape, Remus did not participate in the bullying, but also did nothing to stop it, which was something that he deeply regretted later in his life. On one occasion, for instance, James and Sirius began taunting Snape out of boredom; while Lily Evans went to his defence, Remus pretended to focus on his textbook, but was frowning and unable to continue reading. At some point in their fifth year, Snape saw Poppy Pomfrey leading Remus to the passageway on the full moon; Sirius thought it would be entertaining to inform Snape of how to freeze the Whomping Willow. Snape tried to do so, but was stopped by James before he could reach the Shrieking Shack, where Remus had transformed. Albus Dumbledore forbade Snape from revealing Remus's condition to anyone, and Snape deeply resented being put in James's debt and suspected that Remus might have been in on the dangerous prank. As adults, Remus and Snape were civil to one another, although barely so on the latter's part. Snape was irked that Remus obtained the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at |Hogwarts, which he had always wanted for himself, in 1993. He brewed Wolfsbane Potion for Remus so that he would be able to keep his mind whenever he transformed, but he suspected that Remus was helping Sirius get into the castle and tried to get Dumbledore to stop trusting him. Snape also took to dropping hints that Remus was a werewolf to students, which at least one, Hermione Granger, figured out, though she kept the discovery to herself. This mistrust and dislike turned into vindictive fury when Remus tried to tell Snape that Sirius was innocent of the crimes he had been convicted of, launching an argument and Snape being eager to see Remus punished alongside Sirius. When Snape's old enemy escaped re-capture, Snape vindictvely exposed Remus's werewolf status, which forced him to resign. In spite of all this, Remus believed that Snape was loyal to the Order of the Phoenix, encouraging Harry Potter to trust him and to continue his Occlumency lessons. He was shocked and angered when Snape killed Albus Dumbledore, who had been the one to assure other Order members that Snape was trustworthy. During the Battle over Little Whinging, Snape was one of the Death Eaters who attacked Remus and George Weasley, who was disguised as Harry by way of Polyjuice Potion. Snape, secretly still loyal to the Order, aimed a Sectumsempra at a Death Eater, but accidentally struck George, who lost an ear. Remus, furious, expressed a desire to have "paid him back in kind", but had to focus on getting himself and George to safety. Harry Potter in 1993.]] Remus met Harry Potter, the son of his late friends James and Lily Potter, for the first time since he was an infant in 1993 when he saved him from Dementors on the Hogwarts Express. Remus was the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts during Harry's third year as well as his favourite professor. Remus found Harry to be smart, kind, and an excellent Seeker, and Harry admired and cared about Remus even after he found out that he was a werewolf. He also tells Harry that the first time he saw him, he recognized him, not by his scar, but by his eyes, because they're Lily's eyes. It is suggested that Remus's classes were how Harry discovered his talent for Defence Against the Dark Arts. He took Harry aside to teach him the Patronus Charm, assisted him in avoiding trouble with Professor Snape, and returned the Marauders' Map to him once he was no longer a professor. turns into a Dementor in 1993.]] The two met again in the summer of 1995 when Remus was part of the group of Order members to pick up Harry from Privet Drive. Throughout the years, Remus also shared with Harry stories about his parents and godfather. He comforted Harry over Sirius's death and also offered him advice on other occasions. The only time that they ever fought was when Harry was outraged by Remus temporarily leaving his wife for fear of their future child becoming a werewolf as he was. Harry noted that he had never seen Remus so angry before, but later they made up, as Remus knew that Harry had only meant well. When Remus's son Teddy Lupin was born, he asked that Harry be the boy's godfather, and after his death Harry played a prominent role in Teddy's life. Remus was one of the spirits that came out of the Resurrection Stone to speak to Harry as he walked to what he believed was his death, indicating the almost familial bond between Remus and Harry. In Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Harry wrote in the werewolf section "aren't all bad", showing that Remus being a werewolf doesn't bother him at all. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were among the students who were very impressed by Remus’s teaching when he was professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts for their third year. Hermione deduced that Remus was a werewolf early in the year, but kept this discovery to herself, not even telling her best friends; this is likely because she disapproved of the prejudice against werewolves and knew exposing the truth would hurt Remus, of whom she had a high opinion. Although Ron initially reacted with fear to the revelation that Remus was a werewolf (due to the previously mentioned reason, see above), he continued to admire and like Remus afterwards. In turn, Remus was fond of Ron and Hermione, and was particularly impressed by the latter's cleverness. Ron and Hermione were shown to be very trusting of Lupin. When he appeared at Grimmauld Place, they lowered their wands as soon as he declared his name, something he reproached them for, "speaking as their former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Also, they both disapproved when Harry yelled at Remus for temporarily leaving his wife in a panic about her pregnancy, although they did not entirely disagree with Harry’s reasoning. Etymology * The name "Remus" comes from the brothers Romulus and Remus, the legendary brothers who fought in their adulthood, and of whom Romulus became the founder of Rome, who were cared for by wolves. Because of this, some fans speculated that Remus had a brother, but Romulus is merely the code name used by Lupin for Potterwatch. * "Lupin", is derived from "lupus(a)", Latin for "wolf". Lupin thus means "wolflike" in Latin, and is also the name of a flower. Canis Lupus is the scientific name for wolf. To be described as "lupine" means to "resemble a wolf." * It has also been speculated that his name comes from two Monty Python's Flying Circus skits: a repeated one involving "Professor R.J. Gumby", and one involving "Dennis Moore, the Lupin Thief". Author's Comments .]] J. K. Rowling has stated that Professor Lupin is the kind of teacher she wishes she had while she was a student. He is good-natured, kind, and able to extract the best in everyone — for example, in spotting Neville Longbottom's lack of confidence and helping him to overcome it by teaching him how to defeat the boggart. The fact that he is a werewolf and needs to take a potion to avoid hurting people for the rest of his life makes him a symbol of the consequences of prejudice and segregation, as well as society's often negative reaction to the ill and the disabled. Rowling has also stated that "Lupin's failing is he likes to be liked. That's where he slips up – he's been disliked so often he's always pleased to have friends so cuts them an awful lot of slack." This is why, for instance, despite disapproving of his friends' bullying of Severus Snape, Remus never attempted to stop it. Rowling has said that Remus is one of her favourite characters, and that if she could meet any of her characters, she would likely choose him15 August 2004 Edinburgh Book Festival with J.K. Rowling. Behind the scenes * In the film adaptation of the books, Remus is portrayed by David Thewlis. * In the original draft of the seventh book, Remus survived the Battle of Hogwarts. But since J. K. Rowling "wanted to kill parents" and spared Arthur Weasley, Remus was killed instead. * The witch who pushes the lunch trolley, Remus, and Horace Slughorn are the only adults ever to be seen travelling to Hogwarts on the school train in the series. * The youngest of Harry Potter’s children, Lily Luna, may be named after Remus as well as Luna Lovegood, since his nickname was “Moony” and Luna is Latin for “moon”. * With his marriage to Nymphadora Tonks, Remus became related through his wife to the Malfoys, the Blacks, the Lestranges, the Weaslys, and pehaps even the Potters.Black family tree * It was predicted by many fans that Wormtail would kill Remus with his silver hand, as Remus is a werewolf. However, J.K. Rowling mentioned in an interview that, contrary to what is seen in movies, in her view werewolves are not affected by silver. Ironically the Marauder that does die by the silver hand is not Moony, but Wormtail himself. * In Half-Blood Prince (film), it appears that Remus and Nymphadora are already in a relationship thus omitting Lupin's concerns and Tonks's altered powers. Appearances *''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' *''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)'' *''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)'' *''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' *''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' *''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)'' *''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)'' *''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' *''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)'' *''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' *''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)'' Notes and references de:Remus Lupin fr:Remus Lupin pl:Remus John Lupin ru:Римус Люпин Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus Lupin, Remus